Holyoke solar power project, among largest in New England, starts up

An artist's rendering of the Berkshire Street segment of the Holyoke Gas & Electric solar array.

HOLYOKE – The largest solar power project in Western Massachusetts and one of the largest in New England was expected to be fully online here Tuesday.

The second and final piece of an $18 million to $20 million project that includes nearly 18,400 ground-mounted solar panels in two locations in the city was ready to generate, said James M. Lavelle, manager of the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department, the city-owned utility.

“Right now, this will be the largest solar power project in New England that is online,” he said. “This is a good use of this land. Although solar panels take up a lot of real estate, these sites were not really suitable for other development.”

In November, the first phase of the project, panels installed near the utility’s gas vaporization plant on Mueller Road in West Holyoke, went online. They are capable of generating 3 megawatts of power. The second array of panels, rated at 1.5 megawatts, was installed on a vacant lot on Berkshire Street in the Springdale section of Holyoke.

James Lavelle

If the sun were constant, the 4.5 megawatts of solar power that the two sites can produce, would have the potential to provide enough electricity for about 3,600 homes. However, with cloudy days and night darkness, the panels are expected to be operational only 13 to 14 percent of the time, Lavelle said.

“The actual kilowatt-hours is not all that high. The project will supply only about 1.5 percent of our annual needs,” he said.

The system was built and will be owned by Constellation Energy. Under a 20-year agreement, Holyoke Gas & Electric will purchase all of the electricity generated from the solar panels at a fixed cost that is less than projected market rates.

The cost of solar power remains about four times that of power from fossil fuels, Lavelle said. However, generous state and federal subsidies allowed the project to be constructed and produce power at a price that is favorable for the city.

Holyoke was a center for “green” energy before there was such a term. The city already generates about 65 percent of the power it needs at a hydroelectric station on the Connecticut river that was originally built in 1884.